Teachers' Advocates Blast Property Tax Cut Deal: 'Slap in the Face'

The past several years have been rough on Texas teachers. Many haven’t had a chance to catch their breaths after the pandemic upended education, and political polarization and a lack of meaningful raises are prompting some to flee the field.

Plus, education advocates say the long-awaited property tax cut package likely won’t make things better for the state’s schoolhouses.

The deal won’t result in schools seeing more money, said Patty Quinzi, director of public affairs and legislative counsel at Texas AFT teachers union.

“They're basically just buying down the amount of taxes that homeowners will pay, so it's only going to be, of course, homeowners that get the benefit of this,” she said.

For the folks at Texas AFT, Quinzi said, it’s been frustrating to hear Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tout the deal as a bonus for teachers.

“But if you've met a teacher recently, especially if they're on the younger side, homeownership is far out of reach,” she said. “So this is not the raise that they were expecting and that they deserve.”

Some advocates continue to warn of a looming teacher shortage. Lawmakers vowed to tend to educators’ needs during the 88th Legislature, but the session mostly left them feeling unsatisfied.

Quinzi fears that this year will be among the worst for teacher shortages largely because of the “lack of respect” shown by state legislators in the recent session. She likened it to a “slap in the face” for overextended teachers who’ve seen their salaries dwindle as inflation balloons.

Educators hoped that lawmakers would act on delivering raises, especially because the state’s Teacher Vacancy Task Force recommended significant salary increases. On top of that, Texas enjoyed a record $32.7 billion budget surplus this year.

Yet the tax deal won’t provide any new funding for schools, despite the state’s relatively low ranking in per-student spending, according to The Texas Tribune. The package was recently signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, but voters will need to approve it at the ballot box in November.

“I think teachers are really kind of thinking twice, you know: Can they afford to keep doing this? Is this worth it?” Quinzi said. “It's really sad and disheartening because we know some fabulous, phenomenal teachers who are retiring or who are seeking work elsewhere.”

The property tax deal is going to hinder districts’ local ability to raise revenue, Quinzi said. Texas AFT is concerned that it’s not a sustainable tax cut in the long term.

Looking ahead, Texas AFT fears that districts will need to start dipping into their reserve funding, which is needed for rainy days, she said. Some are already doing so to provide raises since the Legislature didn’t.

Lawmakers’ inaction on public education is taking a toll.

“[S]chool districts are having to get very, very creative, and they’re really finding money in every nook and cranny they can to give raises because they know what's on the line,” Quinzi added. “They're losing teachers too quickly.”

“Our educators are really tired of just getting scraps left over.” – Rena Honea, Alliance/AFT

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On the day that the property tax cut deal was announced, state Rep. John Bryant, a Dallas Democrat, blasted it as doing “nothing for public education.” Conversely, a proposal filed by Bryant and backed by other Democratic lawmakers would have, in part, boosted teacher pay annually by $4,300 and increased funding for public education by $15 billion.

Following news of the deal, the Texas State Teachers Association slammed lawmakers for announcing an “$18 billion package of tax cuts with not an additional penny for the needs of educators and their students.”

Still, the lieutenant governor has claimed that state leaders will act on teacher raises eventually.

“The House decided they wanted just to keep that separate from the property tax bill, and I respected that,” Patrick said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “We will address that in a later session and, look, we’re going to get teachers a pay raise.”

Rena Honea, president of Dallas’ Alliance/AFT teachers union, explained that the property tax cut plan is only good for two years. During the next legislative session, lawmakers will have to look at it again.

The way she sees it, the Legislature didn’t address Texas’ greatest resource: the state’s kids.

Education is typically the last agenda item during each session, she added: “Our educators are really tired of just getting scraps left over.”

Districts must have their budgets in place each June for the following school year, Honea said. Some school boards have had to pass deficit budgets because of a new state law requiring armed security on every campus.

Legislators advertised that law as an improvement to school safety, but Honea noted that it’s also costing districts money. To bring on such security personnel, some districts may have to let other employees go.

Honea said that Abbott will likely call a special session in September or October to consider educational funding. She thinks that the timing is intentional “because they got tired of seeing educators in the hallways at the Capitol.

“They think, ‘These people are back in school. They're not going to be able to come down here and be in our faces and in our offices,’” she said. “Little do they know, we have a plan to. We'll be there, and we’ll be there much more than they expect, I do believe.”